In many medical fields, particularly chiropractic, an assessment of a patient's posture is necessary. Some tools currently exist in relation to this necessity. A large, but easily deployable grid that provides visual clues to a person's posture is sold under the trademark POSTURE PRO, for example. This grid is merely an educational tool, however, and difficult to use in actual patient analysis.
Alternatively, a mobile app for posture assessment is sold under the trademark POSTURESCREEN by a company doing business as PostureCo. With this app, a practitioner takes a photograph of a patient. The app allows the practitioner to indicate certain points on the body of the patient within the photograph. The practitioner then adds the patient's gender, height and, optionally, weight. The app is then able to generate reports on the patient's posture. Although this product may be useful in assessing posture, it may be difficult for the practitioner to exactly pinpoint the correct body points on a photograph. As the distances and angles between these points are key to an accurate posture assessment, an inability to precisely locate these points may seriously skew the results, leading to inconsistent assessments and less effective treatments. Moreover, photographing the patient directly may make the patient uncomfortable or self-conscious. A more accurate and depersonalized system would improve over this system.
In addition, several posture assessment systems are sold under the trademark SAM by SAM, LLC. Each of these systems includes a base including a scale and frame extending upward from the scale. The frame has two sides extending vertically upward from either side of the base, a top piece that connects the two sides, and a fifth piece extending outward from one side of the top piece, parallel to the base. A practitioner strings three lines between the sides, one line between the top piece and the base, and one line between the fifth piece and the base. These strings represent normal posture or alignment. A patient then stands on the base and the practitioner then strings five lines of a different color from the “normal” lines across the sides and down between the top piece and fifth piece and the base. These lines indicate the posture or alignment of the patient. A photograph is then taken of the disparity between the normal lines and the lines of the patient and this photograph is used in assessing the patient's posture. It also may be used as a comparison against future similar assessments to track progress of a course of posture correction. Although these systems are useful, they include no automation of the derivation from “normal” and the product photographs may be subject to human error, e.g. poor photography skills or inconsistent photograph taking.
Another posture detection apparatus and method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,788 to Kobayashi. The disclosed apparatus and method utilize a light source; an image data feeding means to feed the posture of a human body or its parts as image data; a spatial modulating means to modulate the amplitude distribution of a beam from the light source according to the image data fed by the image data feeding means; a data recording medium in which a plurality of reference images have been recorded; an optical means to focus the data bearing beam modulated by the spatial modulating means onto the data recording medium and a plurality of optical detecting means to analyze a beam emanating from the data recording medium at positions having different angles with respect to the data recording medium. Although this system may be effective at assessing posture, it is quite complicated, requiring, for example precision placement of laser oscillators, collimator lenses, and LCD panels. Such a system is fraught with the potential for human error and requires a great deal of sensitive and expensive hardware.
Another posture and weight distribution analyzer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,061 to Nitto. This discloses a diagnostic apparatus employing a spaced grid and a centerline on a vertically mounted mirror to reflect the skeletal position of a patient. The patient stands on two scales which measure the weight borne by each of the patient's legs. The output of each scale is displayed on the mirror. An aperture is formed in the mirror to enable the patient to be photographed. The photograph may be printed on paper bearing the grid pattern and the centerline.
Although each of these analysis devices has merit for posture assessment, there is room for improvement. In particular, an easy-to-use, depersonalized, simple system, including inexpensive and easily replaceable parts, which automates results into a posture assessment is desired.